New Castle, Harrison 2013 budgets meet state tax cap

Proposed budgets in the towns of New Castle and Harrison are within the state’s 2 percent tax levy cap.

Taxes in New Castle would rise nearly 3.25 percent if the Town Board adopts its proposed 2013 budget, according to a LoHud.com article by reporter Alex Weisler. Officials say residents would pay about 13 cents more per $1,000 of assessed property value.

“One of the reasons for that increase, if you look at our assessed valuation, it went down significantly. That’s what causes the rate to increase,” Town Comptroller Robert Deary said. “When you take the increase in the levy, and then the assessed valuation also goes down, it becomes a bigger calculation for each person.”

The town’s assessed value dropped by about 0.55 percent, or about $5.9 million, he said. To read a complete article on New Castle’s proposed budget, click here.

The proposed $56 million budget is up about $1.1 million from the current year. The tax rate will be an estimated $312.70 per $1,000 of assessed property value, up 2.7 percent. For Rauch’s complete article, click here. The proposed budget can be found on the Harrison town website here.

Dwight R. Worley has covered the politicians, educators, activists, businesses, developers and residents of the Lower Hudson Valley for more than a decade. As a reporter and data analyst on the newspaper's Tax Watch Team, Dwight keeps a sharp eye on local taxes, budgets and spending. Dwight has worked on the projects team as a computer- assisted reporting expert. That experience is handy on the Tax Watch Team, as is his master's degree in computer science from Pace University.